Elise Froese and Harry Nickerson (men’s goalball team) will carry the flag for Canada in the Opening Ceremony.

Froese, from Victoria, B.C., first competed for Canada internationally at the U25 women’s world championships in 2023. The 19-year-old recently made her senior national team debut at the 2025 Americas Cup in Bogota, where Canada won bronze. She is also a student-athlete, playing wheelchair basketball at the University of Arizona while majoring in religion.

“I’m honoured and excited to be selected as flag bearer for the Youth Parapan American Games,” said Froese. “It’s an amazing opportunity to represent wheelchair basketball on the international level, and I couldn’t be prouder to carry the flag for Canada at the opening ceremony.”

At just 16 years old, Nickerson made his international debut for Canada this past summer, competing at the IBSA Americas Championships in Sao Paulo. The youngest player to make the senior men’s national team, the Halifax, N.S. resident finished second in scoring. Nickerson is also active on the national science fair circuit, developing AI diagnostic platforms to improve the early detection of eye conditions like his own.

“It’s been a dream of mine for a very long time to just play for Team Canada, but carrying the flag is an unbelievable honour,” said Nickerson. “I think our team has the chance to do some really special things here, and being able to carry the flag for Canada is a huge motivator to prove what we’re capable of as a team on and off the court.”

This will be the sixth edition of the Youth Parapan Am Games, and the first to be hosted in Chile following the successful Santiago 2023 Parapan Am Games. More than 1,500 athletes between the ages of 14 and 21 from over 30 countries are expected to participate.

The full Team Canada, CPC, Youth Parapan Am Games announcement can be found here.